Joker (New Earth)
The Joker has a substantial list of significant crimes, so many that his entire criminal history is too lengthy to be recounted. His most consistent theme has been personal attacks against Batman, often through loved ones and members of the Batman Family, but he has shown complete indifference as to who his victims are, as it doesn't really matter to him. Though many fear to form an alliance with the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime was recruited into a gang of super-villains led by Two-Face to battle Carmine Falcone's criminal empire. As one of the Joker's tasks, the Joker had to eliminate Mario Falcone, but the hit was unsuccessful. The group was also responsible for the Columbus Day Massacre of Gotham's mob bosses, including Bobby "The Don" Gazzo. The team disbanded after a battle with The Hangman and the battle in the Batcave with the newly-formed Dynamic Duo, Batman and Robin. Criminal Career While the Joker's criminal activities have certainly not been limited to those listed here, he has performed a considerable number of acts that distinguish him from the population of ordinary villains. The Killing Joke While trying to show Batman how easy it was for even the sanest of people to lose their minds, the Joker attempted to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. He arrived at Gordon's house, and before kidnapping him, shot his niece in the spine then took pictures of her naked, bleeding, and in pain on the floor, and forced the Commissioner to watch in a slideshow. Although the Joker did not know this when he shot her, James Gordon's niece was actually Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. the original Batgirl. She was left crippled, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, and forced to retire from her life of street vigilantism to a new career as the mysterious "Oracle" for a time. A Death in the Family In one of his more heinous acts the Joker murdered Jason Todd, the second boy to don the guise of Robin. Jason had been searching for his mother in Africa, and found out too late that she had actually been involved in criminal activity with none other than the Clown Prince of Crime. Jason's mother betrayed him, and the Joker tied the two of them up together in a warehouse set to blow up. He also viciously beat Jason with a crowbar many times, causing severe trauma to his head. Batman was unable to rescue the two of them before the bomb's detonation, and they were both killed in the explosion. -429'' No Man's Land During the time Gotham City became known as "No Man's Land" (when it was abandoned by the United States and crime ran rampant across town,) the Joker was absent for quite a while. Batman also left Gotham for some time, and while he was away the Joker just simply didn't think it worth the bother of being active in Gotham. However, when he did appear, amidst the already burgeoning chaos, his impact was shocking. A large number of GCPD officers were murdered when he, after capturing them, dressed them up in costumes and makeup similar to his own, so they would all be killed by a lone police sniper who had a vendetta against the Joker. A large number of innocent police officers were shot by their comrade. Later, he took an entire hospital ward full of newborn infants hostage. When Detective Sarah Essen, Jim Gordon's wife, arrived on the scene, he pointed a gun at her and told her not to move, but then threw a baby at her. Sarah instinctively went to catch the child, and the Joker shot her in the head. Oddly, he seemed to take no pleasure in this act. When Gordon found out, his anger led him to the verge of murdering the Joker but instead he only shot Joker in the knee. The Joker was immediately concerned about the damage to his leg, worrying that he might never walk again, but quickly cracked up laughing, realizing there was a joke. The Commissioner had just gotten him back for the damage to his niece. Emperor Joker At one point the Joker stole Mister Mxyzptlk's reality-altering power, remaking the entire world into a twisted caricature, with everyone in it stuck in a loop. The Joker entertained himself with various forms of murder, such as killing Lex Luthor over and over, and devouring the entire population of China. Ever obsessed with Batman the Joker tortured and killed his adversary every day, only to bring him back to life and do it over again. Superman's powerful will allowed him to fight off the Joker's influence enough to make contact with the weakened Mxyzptlk, who along with a less-powerful Spectre, encouraged Superman to work out the Joker's weakness before reality was destroyed by the Joker's misuse of Mxyzptlk's power. As time ran out, Superman realized that the Joker still could not erase Batman from existence, as the Joker totally defines himself by his opposition to the Dark Knight; by this logic, the Joker would be incapable of destroying the entire universe, since he is incapable of doing so to Batman. This broke the Joker's control, and Mxyzptlk and the Spectre reconstructed reality from the moment the Joker disrupted everything. However, Batman was left broken from experiencing multiple deaths and Superman had to erase Batman's memories of these events so that he could go on. Joker's Last Laugh In an attempt to get him to come to terms with his mortality and have some sort of moral realization, a prison doctor informed the Joker he was going to die of a malignant tumor. Instead, the Joker decided he wanted to leave his mark on the world indelibly, and began a chain of chaotic events that would come to be known as "The Joker's Last Laugh." He used a variant compound of the Joker Venom to actually Jokerize all metahuman inhabitants of Slabside Penitentiary, driving them virtually into the same condition he was in, but with the added benefit of having every single one of them completely loyal to him. The Joker's army ravaged the planet, combating all of earth's heroes, but Batman was eventually able to thwart the attacks using an antidote he obtained from Harley Quinn. Harley was angry at the Joker for attempting to impregnate her without marrying her. Nightwing, falsely believing that Robin had been eaten in the ensuing madness by Killer Croc, caught up with the Joker and actually beat him to death. Batman, not wanting Nightwing to have blood on his hands, resuscitated the Joker and saved his life. Hush Hush and the Riddler convinced and manipulated several other villains into helping in their attempt to destroy Batman. Part of this included fooling Bruce into believing that his childhood friend Tommy Elliott was the latest victim of the Joker. That brought Batman to the brink of murdering the Joker, and he only stopped when former GCPD commissioner Jim Gordon talked him down, reminding him that by killing the Joker, Batman would become just another killer, and Jim refuses to let the Joker ruin Batman's life in that way. In "Soft Targets", Joker began a shooting spree with a high powered sniper rifle murdering Mayor Dickerson and the Superintendent, in order to force the inhabitants of Gotham City to stay inside during the Christmas holiday. He then turned himself in to Gotham's Major Crimes unit, before revealing he'd planted bombs throughout the city, as a "Christmas present" for Batman. This caused the M.C.U. to rush to save countless Christmas shoppers from death. Joker then began a shooting spree within the Major Crimes Unit, where he killed several detectives, only to be shot multiple times by Maggie Sawyer, as his bomb went off, leveling a now evacuated toy store. Joker recovered from his wounds in the hospital laughing at the carnage he had caused. Under the Hood Because of the events of Infinite Crisis Jason Todd returned to life. Angry at Batman for failing to avenge his death, he took over the Joker's old Red Hood identity, abducting the Joker and attempting to force Batman to shoot him. Even though the Clown Prince of Crime is surprised that Todd is alive, the resulting antagonism between the former Dynamic Duo is even more rewarding to the villain than the Jason's death, and he no longer cared whether or not Jason had died. Infinite Crisis The Joker was one of extremely few villains not drafted into Alexander Luthor's Secret Society of Super-Villains during the Infinite Crisis. Unlike many of the other villains, like Catman, the Joker actually wanted to be a member of the Society, but the higher level members wouldn't let him join, which enraged him. While slaughtering a branch of the Royal Flush Gang on his warpath, the Joker was actually laughed at by the King who said "Don't you get it? The Joker's too Wild!" He then electrocuted him with his joy buzzer, before walking away and saying to himself, "That's not funny". Later, after the Society had been defeated, while Alex Luthor was planning what to do next, he was ambushed by the real Lex Luthor and the Joker. Before allowing his brutal murder, Lex simply told his counterpart "You should've let the Joker play." Salvation Run For a period the majority of Earth's villains were deported to the Hell Planet, where the Joker became responsible for one of the factions. They were largely nonconstructive, and attempted to steal food and supplies from Lex Luthor's group, who were trying to find a way to escape. The conflict ended in one-on-one fisticuffs between Luthor and the Joker. Although the match was nearly even, the Joker ultimately overcame Lex, just before the entire villain community was forced to unite against an oncoming Parademon attack. Countdown Jimmy Olsen interviewed an incarcerated Joker about the murder of Duela Dent, who had called herself "The Joker's Daughter." The Joker stated that he never had a daughter, but expressed awareness of the Multiverse's existence and of shifts in reality. The Clown at Midnight A deranged police officer impersonating Batman, named Josef Muller, shot the Joker in the face, leaving him physically scarred and disabled. After having undergone extensive plastic surgery and physical therapy, The Joker reappeared with a drastic new appearance, with scars running from the corners of his mouth high onto his cheeks, and affliction sometimes referred to as a "Glasgow smile." While in intensive care at Arkham, the Joker had developed a new, more lethal variant of Joker Venom, and instructed Harley Quinn to use it to kill his former henchmen to signal his spiritual "rebirth." He then went on a rampage through Arkham, attempting to murder Harley (her death being the final "punchline" of his rebirth) before being stopped by Batman. Batman R.I.P. Since then, the Joker was offered a position on Doctor Hurt's conspiracy "the Black Glove." During this time Joker escaped from Arkham Asylum in an ambulance but was forced off a bridge by a Batmobile driven by Damian Wayne. Oberon Sexton Joker soon resurfaced under the guise of British journalist/detective Oberon Sexton. At the same time however, he operated as the Domino Killer, killing members of the Black Glove one by one. Dick Grayson, the current Batman, figured it all out and confronted Oberon about all the domino killings actually being a set routine of jokes. Oberon removed his mask to reveal the Joker grinning at his old foe, the bullet wound to the head seemingly healed. After the Joker was arrested once more, he appeared to underestimate the current Robin (Damian Wayne) by trying to win the Boy Wonder's pity. He received a beating with a crowbar (mirroring Jason Todd's murder) from Robin, who he realized is the son of his old foe after noting the resemblance between the child and the original Batman. The officers at GCPD ignored the Joker's pleas for help after they concluded that Robin can handle the villain easily. However, the Joker's apparent helplessness was yet another ruse. Feigning injuries from Robin's assault, he scratched Robin with a paralyzing toxin painted onto his fingernails, and revealed that he had once again manipulated events toward his own ends and mocked Robin for going so far as to provide his own crowbar (another reference to the murder of Jason Todd). Appropriating Robin's utility belt, the Joker escaped to execute his attack on the Black Glove, unleashing his signature venom on an audience gathered under Professor Pyg (via tainted popcorn) and guiding Batman and his allies to a climactic confrontation. The Joker is seen in an undisclosed location, with Robin bound and gagged, and possessing what appears to be a nuclear weapon. Help arrived in the form of the original Batman (who had just returned from his time odyssey), who aided his successor and his son in their battle against the Black Glove and the Clown Prince of Crime in Wayne Manor and the Batcave. Then, the Joker apparently killed Dr. Hurt by infecting him with Joker Toxin and burying him alive. The second Batman pursued and captured the Joker, while the original Dark Knight, Robin, and Alfred Pennyworth disarmed the Clown Prince of Crime's weapon and defeated the remaining Black Glove members. The Black Mirror Eventually the Joker escapes from Arkham again by ingesting a mixture of venom mixed with alcohol to secrete through his pores, making him poisonous to the touch. James Gordon's ex-wife Barbara is attacked with more toxin and Batman hunts the Joker down to an underground lair. They fight with Joker refusing to acknowledge Dick Grayson as a worthy successor to "his" Batman, but in defeat he insists he never touched Gordon's wife. It's revealed that James Gordon, Jr. broke the Joker out of Arkham and attacked his own mother with toxin, using her as a diversion while he kidnapped his sister Oracle. Flashpoint The timeline was drastically altered by Professor Zoom during Flashpoint. In this new version of history, Bruce is shot dead by Joe Chill in Crime Alley and his parents survive. Thomas Wayne swears revenge and becomes Batman after savagely beating Chill to death in the streets. Martha Wayne goes mad with grief and becomes the Joker after carving a smile into her own face. She enters fight with the Batman and perishes at the end. | Personality = In the mini-series Underworld Unleashed, the Trickster remarks, "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories". As far as truth about Joker’s personality, one word sums him up… unpredictable. One day The Joker may be a harmless clown, on others he can become a crazed super-killer. In 1984, with the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, The Joker cruelly murdered the once-hero now villain of the comic, Alexander Luthor, who was a mirror opposite from Earth-Two of Lex Luthor. Alexander Luthor set up a society for supervillains aimed at taking down Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, however he made the deadly mistake of not inviting The Joker. One night Alexander Luthor was trapped by Lex Luthor and The Joker in an alley. The Joker attacked Alexander with an over-powered joy buzzer, which horribly burnt one side of his face. Lex Luthor watched on as The Joker shot Alexander from point blank range with a shotgun, killing him instantly. In addition to this The Joker is one of the few villains attributed with killing one of Batman's sidekicks (the other being Black Mask). The Joker beat Robin/Jason Todd to death in the comic "A Death in the Family". For any Batman villain, killing a Robin is almost the peak of villainy. Only two Robin’s and one Batgirl have ever been maimed or killed at the hands of supervillains. Insanity The Joker's insanity appears to be a strange mixture of violently aggressive psychopathy, nihilism, and fixated narcissism. He has frequently been shown to have no regard for human life, and treats the pain and suffering of others as personal sport. While frequent attempts have been made to pin down or classify the Joker's 'insanity', none have been consistently proven successful. And every attempt to cure him has proven likewise completely fruitless, as the Joker actively and energetically resists separation from his madness. He spends the majority of his time in Arkham Asylum, a somewhat inadequate facility which he and other inmates have come to view as sort of a home. The Joker appears to be able to escape from the Asylum almost at will, and does so very frequently. He treats it like a resting place, to go in between his criminal exploits. During the events of "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth", it was hypothesized by Arkham psychologists that the Joker actually exists in a state of almost "super-sanity". It is speculated that he redefines his own personality every day. This explains why sometimes he appears as a horribly sadistic lunatic one day while acting like a simple mischievous clown other days. One person who still sees some humanity in the Joker is the Martian Manhunter. When the Joker gained the Philosopher's Stone and tried to create chaos on Earth, J'onn was able to order the Joker's mind and cause temporary sanity, where the Joker expressed regret and remorse for his actions, and became desperate for a means to make up for them. In his transformation after his deformity Joker adopted a much more sinister personality no longer telling jokes the way he formerly did. However due to the Joker's nature of altering his personality he abandons this new personality from time to time, usually depending on the writer. Day of Judgment featured Martian Manhunter taking the Spectre into the Joker's mind, along with the rest of the Justice League. He is attempting to show the spirit of vengeance that there is decency and humanity even in the most corrupted and evil of souls. Although most of Joker's mind is a horrible twisted hellish place full of demons, deep down, at its heart, there is a kindly couple living in a small domicile separate from all of the anger and torment. This revelation proves that there is some good in all people. | Powers = * : Due to his chemical submergence, Joker has gained beyond average advantages over normal humans as well as further exposure has tainted his physiology. ** : It is speculated that the Joker's exposure to chemicals may have heightened his resistance to pain. It is also implied that he is masochistic in nature, and thus enjoys any pain received, making it an ineffective way of dealing with him. ** : Joker's blood is tainted. It has been said that "being an avid consumer of his products, Joker's immunity to poisons has been built up over years of dedicated abuse." When a mosquito sucks the Joker's blood, it "writhes and whines, choking on tainted blood". ** : The Joker is immune to his own venom as well as various similar toxins. * : The Joker has cheated death numerous times, even in seemingly inescapable and lethal situations. He has been, among other things, caught in explosions, electrocuted, shot repeatedly, and dropped from great heights, but he always returns to once again wreak havoc. * : The Joker has, at times, shown to be fully aware of being a comic book character, even directly talking to the reader. However, most characters ignore this, due to the fact that he is criminally insane. | Abilities = * : The Joker's insanity, or his frame of mind, leaves him immune to the Spectre's judgement, though warranted, as Batman explained once that the Joker doesn't actually know what is right and wrong, a crucial understanding the Spectre needs to judge. In a way, one has to know one's deeds are evil or wrong for the Spectre to judge, and the Joker doesn't. Also, both Jim Corrigan and Hal Jordan Spectres have had major problems with navigating the Joker's mind, Corrigan even managed to get lost in it and Jordan literally was blasted out of his boots to the moon when he tried. * : The Joker is portrayed as highly intelligent and skilled in the fields of chemistry and engineering, as well an expert with explosives. From his first appearance onward, he has been consistently portrayed as capable of hijacking broadcasts - usually news programs - of both the television and radio varieties. ** : The Joker commits crimes with countless "comedic" weapons (such as razor-sharp playing cards, acid-spewing flowers, cyanide pies, and lethally electric joy buzzers) and Joker venom. ** ** * * : The Joker has moderate skill in hand to hand combat. Over the years it has been shown that although Batman is stronger, the Joker is faster and more agile, and his fighting style is chaotic and difficult to predict. The Joker has been known to be able to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat against Batman, however every time he is subdued by Batman, it is through physical force. However, the Joker has proven to be very skilled in the area of martial arts as well, this being proven when beating the Batman once in a fight without "cheating". However, this skill in fighting can also be questioned, due to different artists having different reincarnations of the Joker. In some cases, he is so weak, that Batman can take him down with a single punch, whilst in other cases, he has proven to be more than a match for the Dark Knight. * : Joker is adept at torturing his victims endlessly, including shooting Batgirl, torturing Robin to death and beating Damian into submission. | Strength = | Weaknesses = * | Equipment = being used]] * Joker Venom: A deadly poison that infects his victims with a ghoulish rictus grin as they die while laughing uncontrollably. This venom comes in many forms, from gas to darts to liquid poison, and has been his primary calling card from his first appearance. * Joker Teeth: A common weapon and theme for equipment for the Joker are "Joker Teeth." Clacking, wind-up gag teeth are commonly used to mock the Dark Knight and his allies. They are one of the Joker's signature items. | Transportation = * Jokermobile | Weapons = * Various Joker Gadgets: Razor-sharp playing cards, acid flower, various guns and other weaponry. The Joker is unpredictable in that he will use any kind of weapon afforded him. * Joker's Joy Buzzer: The Joker often used a modified novelty joy buzzer strapped to the palm of his hand. The buzzer administered a lethal dose of electricity into anyone who came into contact with it. * Explosives: Joker is an expert at bomb making and has even bought nuclear weapons. He loves using time bombs and does use grenades in battle, though they may be disguised as harmless objects like toys, dolls, balls or marbles. | Notes = * Rumors that his name is Jack Napier (a play on "jackanape") are taken from the 1989 movie and the subsequent animated series, where it was one of 100 aliases. *Two canonical sources suggest his name may be Jack, namely the Batman Confidential arc Lovers and Madmen and an Atom/Joker Brave and the Bold team up in issue 13. It is also speculated that his first name may have been "Joe". * In Images ( ), the Joker's first name is revealed by his cousin Melvin Reipan as beginning "Ja--". However, just as Melvin is about to mention the name, the Joker shushes him, saying "We don't use that name anymore, remember? I'm Cousin Joker now." * In Dead to Rights (Batman Confidential #22-25, 29, 30), the Joker has his fingerprints taken, but the prints are just solid black blobs with no patterns. "Acid. Lots of it." says the Joker. His hands are also shown to have green fingernails. * The Joker has one of the most extensive individual body counts of any human level DC villain (notwithstanding incidents where entire planets are destroyed). * In the graphic novel Arkham Asylum, 1989, penned by Grant Morrison, it was suggested the Joker's mental state is a previously unprecedented form of "super-sanity," a form of ultra-sensory perception. It also suggests that he has no true personality of his own, that on any given day he can be a harmless clown or a vicious killer, depending on which would benefit him the most. | Trivia = * Nicknames for the character include The Clown Prince of Crime, The Thin White Duke of Death, The Harlequin of Hate, The Ace of Knaves, and The Mirthful Menace. * Virtually nothing is known about Joker's past life, including his real name. As such the Joker has used various aliases over the years. These have included variations on his name, such as Joe Kerr and Dr. J Reko, references to his theme, such as Mr. Genesius and the Laughing Man, and a few with no theme behind them, such as Jack Napier and Oberon Sexton. Only in the 80's Batman film does Joker have an official real name, the aforementioned Jack Napier. In the 90's cartoon series Jack Napier is also used, but later retconned into being one of his various aliases. While the name "Jack" is repeatedly used as the Joker's first name (such as Jack White from the Batman: Arkham Asylum game), it's never been confirmed as such. In addition Joker has had an equally numerous amount of nicknames over the years, including "The Clown Prince of Crime", "The Ace of Knaves", "Harlequin of Hate", and Harley Quinn's personal favorite "Puddin'". * In a miniseries featuring Tim Drake, the third Robin, the Joker is shown kidnapping a computer genius, and admitting that he doesn't know much about computers, although later writers have portrayed him as very computer literate. * Besides the chalk white skin and green hair, he also has extremely sharp red lips. It is unclear whether or not his constant smiling is the result of physical deformity, and he has certainly been scarred as such in the past but seems currently to be able to facially express other emotions as well. | Recommended = ]] | CustomSection2 = Related Articles | CustomText2 = * Joker's Body Count * Joker Venom * Joker's Joy Buzzer * Ace Chemical Processing Plant * Arkham Asylum * Batman * Gotham City * Harley Quinn | Wikipedia = Joker (comics) | Links = * Every.Joker.Issue.Ever - a fan project to eventually review every Joker comic story ever. Includes theories, discussions and analysis. * Joker article at Toonopedia * Joker article at Supermanica * Joker article at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe * * Joker in Comixarium –Joker in Czech. * Unca Cheeks' Top Twelve DC Super Villains with the Joker "best explicated as a primal force of nature; as unrelenting and inhuman as a freak lightning storm, or a tsunami. He is a natural disaster, on two legs." * "The Joker's Origin" at DCComics.com }} hu:Joker (Új Föld) Category:Arkham Asylum inmates Category:Injustice Gang II members Category:Injustice League III members Category:Salvation Run deportees Category:Club of Villains members Category:Black Glove members Category:Joker League of Anarchy members Category:Exposure to Chemicals or Radiation Category:Serial Killers Category:Identity Unknown